Toy



F. L. FITHIAN.

TOY.

APPLlCATION FILED'APR. 2, 1919. 1,368,917. Patented Feb. 15-, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.'

Till

TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

Application filed April 7,1919. Serial No. 237,978.

To all whom it may can earn:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. FITHIAN, a citizen of the United States,.residing in Haddonfield, Camden county, New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements, in

Toys, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sectional toys, and

one object of my invention is to provide a structure having a plurality of parts detachably connected together; the several sections of which are capable of combination with sections of other figures,,simulating animals or human figures, as the case may be,

of the same general construction or arrangement.

A further object of my invention is to provide the toy figures, of whatever character they maybe, with inherent means to V frictionally hold the several sections of the same together when assembled in any desired relation.

My invention is particularly apphcable to structures made up of several thicknesses or 2 plies of material having portions which detachably interengage or interlock so that such parts may occupy various positions and be capable of being moved with respect to each other whereby any figure may be disposed in various attitudes grotesque and otherwise; and a particular object of my invention is to provide a structure made of several plies of material wherein the several sections are provided with projecting portions arranged to interengage with other projecting portions and wherein such projecting portions are laterally displaced to a certain extent whereby the frictional resistance'to separation is increased.

In one form of my improved structure, a body section is arranged to receive head and leg sections, while in other forms the connections of the several jointed sections are interchangeable so as to permit the joining as of a head, section directly with a tail section, or any head and tail section with any body section or a series of body sections connected together in the same or a similar manner.

These and other features of my invention are more fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1. is a side elevation of one form of sectional toy within the scope of my in:

vention; 1.

Fig. 2, is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3, .is a front elevation.

Fig. 4, is a sectional view on the line IV-IV, Fig. 1, showing one manner of detachably securing the sections together.

Figs. 5 and 6, are similar sectional views showing another form of detachable connection for the sections.

Fig. 7, is an enlarged'sectional view illustrating more or less diagrammatically and with some exaggeration a form of connection like that shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8, is a view similar to Fig. 7, illusgating an extension of the idea shown in An important feature of my invention comprises the provision of a sectional toy in the shape of an animal, or the figure of a doll, clown, or the like, wherein each section of such toy carries interengaging or interlocking connecting means, which may be self-' registering if desired, for mutual engagement and asemblage with other sections of similarly constructed toy figures; a further feature being the provision of detachable connecting means that will permit movement of the several sections of the figure with respect to each other so as to enable the positioning of such figures in grotesque attitudes. A still further feature is the provision' of connecting means that will permit the attachment or connection of similar or difierent sections of other figures of the same construction whereby the toy may be built up of the head section of one figure, body section of another figure, and tail section of a third figure, for instance, or a head section of one and a tail section of another, or a head section and tail section and several body sections.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, of the drawings, 1 represents a body section; 2 a head section, and 3 and 4, front and rear leg sections, respectively, of an animal figure, a bear for instance. In this form of my improved toy structure, the body portion or section 1 is slotted at front and rear to form recesses indicated at 5 and 5", respectively; the former being adapted for the reception of the neck portion 2 of the head section 2 and the upper portion 3* of the front leg section 3, and the latter for the reception of the upper portion 4 of the rear leg section 4.

While the body section 1 may be made from a solid piece of material, wood for i11 stance, suitably slotted or otherwise shaped to provide the recessed portions 5 and 5", I may employ a laminated structure such as shown in the drawings in which a block 1 constitutes the central or major portion of the body, with side plates 1 flanking the same. and suitably secured to said central block 1*. In such construction, the side plates and center block may be additionally pinned together as indicated at 9.

The several detachable sections of the toy, the head 2 and connected neck portion 2 and the legs 3 and l, may be made in a similar manner; that is to say, either cut from a solid block and shaped to provide slots or grooves at each end of the same,

or built up of laminae providing the desired recessed portion or portions. I

In practice, I prefer to make the side plates 1 of the member 1, of Fig. 7 thinner or of greater resiliency than the side plates 2* of the member 2, these latter'plates being slightly thicker than the slots they are In Fig. 8, the

to enter in the member 1. member 1 is shown as having its side plates of greater thickness, or less resiliency, than the side plates 2 of the member 2; in said figure, however, the intermediate plate 1O is the stiffer plate and its thickness is slightly greater than the slot formed. between the inner faces of the plates Qof said member 2. In both instances, however, the entering ends of at least one of the parts are beveled on their side faces,

spring outward slightly, while the outer plates of the neck portion of the head and the upper parts of the leg sections, respectively, will spring inward slightly; thereby providing sufficient resiliency to insure the desired frictional contact between the respective parts.

As may be understood, the sections of 7 one, toy are detachably connectible to seetions of another toy, and the block portions of the head and neck portion, and the leg sections may be ofa dimension equaling the wldth of the space between the side plates of said sections so that sufficient space will be provided between said plates to frictionally receive the plates or projecting portion of any other similar section: permitting not only the positioning of any individual toy in a grotesque position, but also a group of such toys, by the interconnecting of any one of the head or leg sections with another head or leg section. In this form of toy, the connection or engagement of the several sections is purely frictional. In Fig. 4, the spacing between the outer plies 1 of the body section with reference to the outside width of the plies of the neck portion Qflis such that said outer plies 1 will spread slightly, while the inner ends of the plies of the neck portion 2 will be contracted, as clearly shown inthe drawmgs.

In the form of structure shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, I have introduced additional laminae or plies so that the recesses of the body portion are provided with a lamina or, ply 10 or 10 intermediate the outer laminae or side plates 1*, while between said lamina 10' or 10 and the side plates 1 plies or laminae 11 or 11 are arranged.

9 in Figs. 1 and 2. V

The central ply 10 .shown in Fig. 5 is narrower than the plies 11, and while the spaces provided between said central ply 10 and the outer plates or plies 1 are approximately the width of the outer plates or plies of the neck portion QPof the head section 2 which are designed to'enter said spaces, the actual distance between the inner walls of the plies or plates 1" is less than the outside width of the projecting portion 2 of the head; hence there will be a slight contraction of the inner ends of the same when disposed within the recess, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and said inner ends will engage the central ply 10 at m, while the marginal edges of the side plates 1* will contact with the sides of the neck projection at a. In like manner, the structure shown in Fig. 6, calls for a lateral displacement of the sides or plies of the projecting portion Q 'by' reason of the fact that the central ply 10 is greater in thickness than the space between the outer plies of said neck section, and when assembled this will occasion a spreading; of the outer plies 1. at the margm'of the same as well as a spreading of the plies of the projection of the neck sectionset within the recess inj the body;

the plies of the neck section contacting withsaid central ply 10 at w and with the side plates 1' at a. V

In Fig. 7,1 have shown a further embodiment ofmy invention, in which the central thinner than the space between the plies ply l0 of the body portion is materially of the neck section ofthe head for instance,

or the projecting portions of the leg sections, with the space between the outer plies 7 head section or the leg sections so that when assembled there will be very definite outward or lateral expansion of the outer plies of the body section as well as inward or lateral displacement of the plies of the neck section, so that a binding outwardly adjacent the margin of the plates 1 is provided for at .2", and an inward binding a ainst the central ply 10 is provided for. F his construction is along the lines of that illustrated in Fig. 5, but is carried to a greater extent, although, of course, it will be understood that the drawing is exaggerated, in view of the size of the parts involved, with a view of clearly illustrating the designed construction.

In Fig. 8, a construction is shown involving the use of a central ply 10 carried by the body portion wider than the space between the outer plies of the neck portion of the head section so that the ends of the latter disposed within the recess will be outwardly spread for frictional engagement against the inner surface of the outer plies 1 at the inner portion of the recess, as at a; the central ply 10 being engaged near its outer end by the inner walls of the projecting neck portion of said head section. Here again the view is necessarily exaggerated to bring out this feature.

In all instances, however, the object is to provide means that will insure suflicient contact between the extended projections and the Walls of the recesses, or the interengaging or interlocking parts, whereby sufficient friction will be set up to insure that the parts will be relatively tight or. closely associated when connected together.

I claim: 7

1. A toy comprising two coacting members each of which is slotted to form a plurality of spaced parallel side plates, the plates of one member being less resilient than the plates of the other member and of slightly greater thickness than the slots of the other member, and the outer ends of said thicker plates being beveled on one side to reduce the thickness thereof to about equal to the width of the slots in the companion member, to enable said ends to firstfreely enter the slotted portion of the companion member, and then to progressively frictionally engage the inner surfaces of the side plates of the latter and to cause a lateral movement of the plates of superior resiliency relatively to the plates of inferior resiliency whereby the plates of said members are frictionally held to each other.

2. A toy comprising two coacting members each of which is slotted to form a plurality of spaced parallel side plates, the plates of one member being less resilient than the plates of the other member and of slightly greater thickness than the slots of the other member, and the outer ends of said thicker plates being beveled on one side to reduce the thickness thereof to about equal to the width of the slots between the plates of the other member to enable said beveled ends first freely to enter the slotted portion'of the companion member and then to spread the plates thereof thereby providing sufficient resiliency to insure the desired frictional contact between the respective parts.

3. A toy composed of companion members each provided with substantially parallel plates of unequal resiliency, spaced from each other and adapted to interengage, said plates having certain of the surfaces at one side of their entering ends beveled to reduce the thickness thereof to about equal to the width of the spaces between the plates of a companion member and cause relative lateral movement of the plates of the members and the production of increased friction at diametrically opposite points of the interengaged portions thereof.

FRANK L. FITHIAN. 

